In this all-questions episode of Talking Cars, our experts answer questions on selling a used car online, how to get the most life out of directional tires, storing fuel in a plug-in hybrid, how hybrid engines work, and more. Plus, the rear-wiper saga continues, and we explain why most rear wipers are mounted below the glass on vehicle hatches. Have a question for our experts? Send it to TalkingCars@iCloud.com to be featured on a future episode.
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Intro
1:16 - Question #1 (video): How to sell your car online
6:39 - Question #2: What's the best strategy to get the most mileage out of directional tires?
8:39 - Question #3: Should you use fuel stabilizer in a PHEV?
11:10 - Question #4 (video): What is the Atkinson cycle and how does it work?
16:54 - Question #5: Will CR ever buy and test a VinFast?
22:17 - Question #6: Why are rear-mounted wipers attached to the bottom of the rear glass?
LINKS:
Send a Question to Talking Cars: https://www.consumerreports.org/talkingcars/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
How To Sell Your Car Online: https://www.consumerreports.org/money/selling-a-car/how-to-sell-your-car-to-an-online-retailer-a2790904993/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
First Drive: VinFast VF8: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/vinfast/vf-8/2025/overview/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
VinFast Brand Overview: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/vinfast/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_YT
00:00:00
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00:00:36
Hey welcome back
I'm Keith Barry I'm John Williams and.
00:00:39
I'm John Linkov.
00:00:40
And we are back with another,
00:00:43
all Questions episode of Talking Cars.
00:00:45
And, these are folks who have sent their
questions to talking cars@consumer.org.
00:00:51
And for their efforts,
00:00:54
they're not only just going
to get a question
00:00:56
answered by us experts here, but
they're also going to get a free shirt.
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So if you want a free shirt
and if you have a question,
00:01:04
you can get two things
for the price of one email.
00:01:07
Two talking cars@consumer.org.
00:01:09
So send that in.
00:01:11
Our first question is a video question.
00:01:13
We love video questions.
00:01:14
Sean from Pensacola, Florida.
00:01:16
Has a video question for us.
Take it away, Sean.
00:01:19
I'm just curious,
00:01:19
what's the best platform, a website
you would use to sell a vehicle?
00:01:23
I just got another car and I'm
trying to sell my previous two, but
00:01:27
I've had very little luck with any of the,
popular car selling websites.
00:01:31
Carvana. CarMax. AutoTrader.
00:01:33
I paid a fee to list my cars.
00:01:35
Unfortunately,
I'm getting very little activity.
00:01:37
Anything you would recommend?
Anything that you would,
00:01:41
suggest?
00:01:42
All right.
00:01:42
So one way is that you can show your cars
on a well-known podcast.
00:01:47
And I at Sean,
I would actually say next time,
00:01:50
just put your phone number in the window
on one of those for sale signs.
00:01:54
Yeah. That will really help.
00:01:57
But, you know, you will have to make
a little donation to us.
00:02:00
No, no, we're not.
We're not going that way.
00:02:01
All right, so this is a cultural shift.
00:02:04
I think that I've noticed
because it used to be,
00:02:07
you know, you could very easily go.
00:02:09
I mean, I remember the,
you know, the books that you could look,
00:02:12
and then Craigslist,
now Facebook Marketplace.
00:02:15
And it always used to be
you go find a car that's been owned by
00:02:18
someone, taken care of by someone,
00:02:21
who can bring out the binder
with every receipt.
00:02:24
And that's the best person
to buy a car from.
00:02:26
And that seems, in the past
few years, to have kind of disappeared.
00:02:32
What?
00:02:32
I mean, have you seen this?
00:02:33
I I've seen it go away.
00:02:36
Except for the more esoteric,
the more Nietzsche vehicles.
00:02:39
Yeah.
That where people expect to find that.
00:02:42
And nowadays I think that everyone is.
00:02:44
So it's easier just to go to a Carvana.
00:02:46
It's easier to go to a, to a,
00:02:49
You know, CarMax.
00:02:51
Yeah.
00:02:51
Go, go to a CarMax and and just dump it.
00:02:53
And that's what we did with your.
Car in Costco.
00:02:55
But it usually gets towed and crushed.
00:02:57
Yeah. Exactly.
00:02:58
You reported stolen or. Yeah.
00:03:00
Yeah.
00:03:00
It, it it's one of those things
where it's, it's just easier, you know,
00:03:04
you don't have the tire kickers,
you know that.
00:03:05
So that on one hand
makes it easy for the seller.
00:03:08
Yeah. I don't want.
00:03:09
Others still coming to my house
and having to go in.
00:03:12
And then they're,
they're dickering over the price
00:03:15
and they're why
I used to have one of these.
00:03:17
I'm like, I'm not taking these people out
for I'm trying to make friends.
00:03:19
I'm trying.
00:03:20
I'm trying to.
00:03:20
I'm sure I'm sell a car. Right?
00:03:22
So I mean, it's just it's
you just dump it.
00:03:25
But then those people are stuck.
That's that. That's the thing.
00:03:27
It's helping you in some respects,
even if you're going to take less money.
00:03:31
But it's hurting them and that's, that's,
that's the problem.
00:03:33
So those sources
and sometimes are drying up.
00:03:35
We rag on dealerships enough.
00:03:37
But there is a thing that you pay them
to do.
00:03:41
And standing in line at the,
you know, at the,
00:03:46
you know, at the DMV,
filling out the paperwork,
00:03:48
figuring out the tax implications,
swapping the plates, detailing the car,
00:03:52
making sure
that everything is running on it.
00:03:54
There is a service that dealers ad
and why you get paid less
00:03:58
for a trade than what they charge for
the car when they turn around and sell it.
00:04:02
Right.
00:04:02
And same reason
you hire a realtor to sell your house
00:04:05
versus trying to do it yourself for it.
00:04:06
Yeah, exactly.
00:04:07
And you can argue about
00:04:08
how much they take or whatever,
but I think most people have kind of
00:04:12
I mean, most people
don't change their own oil now.
00:04:14
It's just your
your time is worth something.
00:04:16
And I think, you know, for certain cars
you might like,
00:04:20
you said you can try a forum
if you have something.
00:04:22
It's really rare.
00:04:23
But for your average car it's it's just,
you know, it's going to get
00:04:28
you sell it to a, you know, CarMax
00:04:30
and and you know, get sent off to auction.
00:04:33
Yeah. It is kind of a shame.
00:04:35
But I mean that's what you're going to see
is you do see a lot of the,
00:04:38
the the unaffiliated used car dealers,
the old branded ones,
00:04:42
you know, whether it's
00:04:43
exotic motors or speed motors or whatever
the heck they're calling themselves.
00:04:47
You know, that's where you're going
to see a lot of vehicles,
00:04:48
but that's where you
then have to really do your due diligence.
00:04:51
It's one thing with the dealer
00:04:52
find you buy the car,
it comes with a certain warranty.
00:04:55
It may even come an extended warranty,
but at least whatever your state mandates.
00:04:59
But there's a there's a, there's a dealer
group behind it, and you can even buy
00:05:02
a potentially an extended warranty
backed by that automaker.
00:05:06
Yeah.
00:05:07
When you're getting something
that's on the side of the road
00:05:08
type of place,
you really need to do your due diligence
00:05:10
and and if they don't let you take it
to a mechanic that you have
00:05:15
before the transactions over.
00:05:17
Yeah, you have to know
what your cooling off window is.
00:05:19
And not every say has added
some days at some states.
00:05:21
It's just it's done.
Yeah. The car can't go back.
00:05:24
Yeah they can. There's a warranty
but you can't take it back.
00:05:27
If you can take it back,
00:05:28
make sure you have an appointment
to take it to a mechanic.
00:05:30
Double check that you know what
you're getting into. Yeah.
00:05:32
And then that leaves this sort of Facebook
marketplace, Craigslist
00:05:35
for kind of your, you know,
it used to be the under $5 cars.
00:05:39
Now it's the under $10 cars.
00:05:41
It's the, you know, oh seven,
you know, Corolla with 250 miles.
00:05:47
But that stuff is creeping
to the dealership too.
00:05:49
So it's pricing too. So yeah.
00:05:51
Yeah, it's ultimately showing
as John to your own personal tolerance.
00:05:55
Right.
00:05:55
Like if you
00:05:56
are willing to play the waiting game
and mess around on Facebook
00:05:59
Marketplace and things like that for long
enough and play with your pricing,
00:06:03
I'm sure you could sell it that way
eventually.
00:06:05
But yeah, if you're trying to move on it
fast, unfortunately that might not be.
00:06:09
Yeah,
your car's time is money to depreciation.
00:06:12
Yeah.
00:06:12
So for buying in for selling
00:06:14
I mean for selling it, it's
that that's a thing that, that I think
00:06:17
our, our listeners
and is going to have to be aware of.
00:06:21
It's going to take some work.
00:06:22
It's going to take
even possibly more work than,
00:06:25
it used to be, you know, it was like,
00:06:28
okay, we'll put on auto tear and put it
here, put it there.
00:06:29
It is going to take a little more
because people aren't
00:06:32
they're not always expecting
to find the gem there.
00:06:34
Yeah. Exactly.
00:06:35
So yeah it has it has changed
and I've seen it change quickly.
00:06:40
Jake, from Yakima, Washington asks.
00:06:43
I recently put a set of highly rated
Michelin Cross Climate
00:06:46
twos on my 2014 Lexus NX.
00:06:50
My initial enthusiasm waned.
00:06:52
A bit when I realized they're directional.
00:06:54
Since I want to maximize tire life,
I'm concerned
00:06:57
that only rotating them front to back
will cause uneven wear.
00:07:00
What's the best strategy to get maximum
mileage out of directional tires?
00:07:03
Is it ever worth the expense
to dismount and flip them?
00:07:06
And to rotate them side to side?
00:07:08
Well, for a tire question,
we're going to head it over,
00:07:11
directly to Ryan, who is coming to us live
00:07:14
from our tire
cavern, out in the tire building.
00:07:19
Hey, Jake, thanks for your question.
00:07:21
It's a great question.
00:07:22
Don't let your enthusiasm wane.
00:07:24
Know you bought some great tires,
and you're putting them on a great car.
00:07:27
But I do understand
your your concern about,
00:07:30
directional tires
and rotating them, Properly on a vehicle.
00:07:33
Typically,
you go side to side, front to rear.
00:07:35
You know, you mix them around, but,
with directional, you can't.
00:07:38
So, the thing here is just make sure
your vehicle is in alignment.
00:07:42
You know, get frequent, alignments,
00:07:45
and just.
00:07:45
Rotate front to rear,
Under normal. Schedule.
00:07:48
And you should be fine.
I. Even looked online a little bit.
00:07:51
I'm not seeing a lot. Of complaints
at all. About, any.
00:07:53
Where issues with the cross climates.
00:07:56
Cross climate issues.
00:07:57
So again, just make sure your vehicle
is in alignment, rotate in front or rear.
00:08:00
It's really not worth, the risk
of dismounting them and remounting them.
00:08:05
Because when you dismount a tire,
you do run the risk of ripping the beads.
00:08:08
Those are not inexpensive tires.
00:08:10
They're great tires.
00:08:10
So, I don't recommend that,
but just rotate.
00:08:13
Rotate them front to rear and,
00:08:15
make sure the vehicle is in alignment,
and you should be good. Thanks.
00:08:18
Thank you to our intrepid tire
correspondent, Ryan Koski.
00:08:22
It's good to know
in the in the spirit of Mike Quincy,
00:08:24
that we're all in alignment on this issue
because.
00:08:28
We're going to have. A
I think we agree with Ryan.
00:08:30
During the next Quincy contest,
and we're all fighting for it here. So
00:08:35
Muhammad from South Bend,
00:08:36
Indiana, the historic home of Studebaker,
asks us, I,
00:08:42
I drive a I mean, I'm not going to mention
a football college or football team.
00:08:46
I'm just going to mention,
I drive a plug in hybrid BMW.
00:08:50
My work
commute is less than my electric range.
00:08:53
I do not go on long drives.
00:08:55
And this is primarily a work commute car.
00:08:57
I don't think I've had the need to top up
my fuel tank for about five months
00:09:00
now, and I still have more
than three quarters of a tank left.
00:09:03
Should I be considering
00:09:04
adding fuel stabilizer
so that the gas in my tank doesn't go bad?
00:09:09
This is a question that we we get
pretty often and and it's a good one.
00:09:14
And it's why we run it
every time we get it.
00:09:16
So if you're looking for a shirt,
ask about your plug in hybrid.
00:09:19
But not too
not too quickly. Yes, yes, yes.
00:09:23
You know, some automakers
actually have the engine run.
00:09:26
They have a cycle
where the engine will run.
00:09:28
And just to make sure it cycles a fuel,
BMW does not.
00:09:31
And I look this up because let's check
BMW and see what they advise from.
00:09:38
He's just shooting from the hip.
00:09:39
And they say that for BMW plug
00:09:42
in hybrid vehicles
gas engines primarily use as a backup.
00:09:46
The duration
00:09:47
that the gasoline lasts in the vehicle
00:09:48
can vary based on driving conditions
and how often the engine used.
00:09:51
So, sure, sure, they sense
gas lasts when you don't use it.
00:09:57
Generally, if the
00:09:58
is mainly driven in EV mode,
the gasoline can last for several months
00:10:01
without issues,
but it is recommended to keep the tank
00:10:03
at least a quarter full of fuel
to avoid fuel degradation.
00:10:07
And if it's stored for an extended period
without using the gas engine,
00:10:10
using a fuel stabilizer
can help prevent the fuel from degrading
00:10:13
and ensure optimal performance
when you do need to use it.
00:10:17
Yeah,
there's the answer straight from BMW.
00:10:21
And and your vehicle,
your plug in hybrid might vary.
00:10:24
So check your, your owner's manual.
00:10:27
Check online on the manufacturer side
or check your owner's manual.
00:10:30
And I think a lot of the dealer sites
will have some of this information too
00:10:33
about it.
00:10:33
Because it's, it's a, it's a technology
that still not as many people know about.
00:10:37
So they do often have an FAQ.
00:10:39
Yeah. About electric vehicles
or plug in hybrids. Yeah.
00:10:42
And it is a good question
because, you do not want your,
00:10:46
plug in hybrid BMW getting its,
you know, injectors gummed up.
00:10:49
Or you don't want it becoming only an EV.
00:10:51
Yes, yes, exactly.
00:10:53
Because you've no idea
how long your trip is.
00:10:55
It's it'll not be an EV after a short
period.
00:10:58
It's a lot of plugging in. Yes, yes.
00:11:00
Want to stay up to speed on
what's happening at Consumer Reports?
00:11:04
Sign up for our What's New newsletter
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00:11:07
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00:11:10
This is John from Newton, Iowa,
the historic home of Maytag.
00:11:15
Good morning talking cars.
00:11:17
This is John Lee, and I'm sitting
in my 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring.
00:11:22
Love this vehicle.
00:11:23
But I had a couple questions.
00:11:25
If you could explain to me
what the Atkinson cycle is.
00:11:28
I've tried to figure it out,
and I know this engine
00:11:31
and other hybrids use an Atkinson cycle.
00:11:35
How does that vary from your standard
four cylinder engine?
00:11:41
Yeah, we we also test appliances.
00:11:42
A Consumer Reports
great question from John.
00:11:45
And I warn you, it is
00:11:47
this is going to be a technical answer
from our John, one of our two.
00:11:51
John's here today. The technical.
00:11:53
The technical, the technical to detect
I don't. Know if I want. That.
00:11:56
Well you're going to get it.
00:11:57
So if you if you don't want to hear
about about this, just hit the plus 30s.
00:12:03
But I promise you stick around
and you will learn something.
00:12:06
So go ahead.
00:12:07
Yeah.
So it is a really great question, John.
00:12:09
First, I think it's important to cover
just a little bit of the basics
00:12:12
of internal combustion engines.
00:12:14
So a gasoline engine that's in most cars
on the road uses a four stroke cycle.
00:12:20
It's called the Otto cycle. Otto.
00:12:22
And what you have is first
an intake stroke where there's a piston
00:12:26
inside each of your cylinders,
that piston is moving down.
00:12:32
There's an intake valve that's open.
00:12:33
So as the piston is moving
down, it's drawing in an air fuel mixture.
00:12:37
Next you have a compression stroke
where that intake valve is now closed.
00:12:42
Your piston is moving
back up in the cylinder.
00:12:44
It's compressing that air fuel mixture.
00:12:47
And then you have your combustion
or sometimes called the expansion stroke
00:12:51
where a spark plug is going to ignite
that compressed air fuel mixture.
00:12:55
It's going to drive the piston down.
00:12:58
And the piston is connected
to a connecting rod
00:13:01
which then connects to your crankshaft.
00:13:02
So that's actually
what's turning your crankshaft.
00:13:05
Is that piston moving downwards
from the combustion of those gases.
00:13:09
Finally you have an exhaust stroke
where an exhaust valve opens,
00:13:13
and then the piston moves
00:13:14
back up in the cylinder
and pushes out of that burned gas.
00:13:18
Kind of waste product at that point.
00:13:20
So the key to remember here
is that with the normal auto cycle
00:13:24
during your compression stroke,
that intake valve is closed in order
00:13:27
to allow you to actually compress
that air fuel mixture.
00:13:30
Right. Makes sense.
00:13:31
Okay. Yeah.
00:13:32
If there's an opening there you're going
to lose some of that pressure.
00:13:34
Yeah.
00:13:35
So the Atkinson cycle does things
a little bit differently.
00:13:38
And it gets a little bit
00:13:39
weird and almost counterintuitive
because what you're doing
00:13:42
is you're leaving that intake valve
00:13:45
open for part of your compression stroke.
00:13:47
Sounds a little bit
00:13:49
weird and inefficient
when you first start thinking about it.
00:13:52
Because as the Pistons moving up,
now you're pushing some of that mixture
00:13:57
back out into your intake manifold.
00:14:00
But eventually
it does close during part of that stroke.
00:14:03
So what's essentially happening
is you're getting a shorter
00:14:07
effective compression stroke
than with the auto cycle,
00:14:11
and you're compressing
less air and fuel overall.
00:14:15
So you're probably wondering like,
okay, we'll have less of everything.
00:14:18
Like how was that? Yeah,
I was that more efficient, right?
00:14:20
Yeah.
00:14:21
Where it comes down to efficiency
00:14:22
is the difference between your compression
and your expansion stroke.
00:14:26
So the expansion stroke
where you're actually generating the power
00:14:30
in the engine is the same effective length
because the the piston is still moving
00:14:36
the same volume in the cylinder
as it would in the auto cycle.
00:14:40
Okay.
00:14:41
So the efficiency gain comes
from that difference in
00:14:45
you have a shorter compression stroke
but a longer expansion stroke.
00:14:50
Essentially it's shorter
because the valves open.
00:14:53
Correct. Yeah.
00:14:54
It's the same geometric length,
00:14:56
but because the valve is open
you're not compressing for as long.
00:15:00
And that uses less fuel.
00:15:02
You're using less fuel.
00:15:03
So you're basically extracting this is
00:15:07
kind of nuanced here.
00:15:08
But you're extracting more useful work
from that smaller amount of fuel.
00:15:14
Yeah.
00:15:15
And that's why traveling the full down
cycle.
00:15:18
To exactly it.
00:15:18
Turn at the end.
00:15:20
So it's doing the full stroke.
00:15:21
But the first part of the upstroke
is doing basically nothing.
00:15:25
So it's that is part of it
your compression stroke.
00:15:28
It's the engine's not working
quite as hard to compress the mixture.
00:15:33
But that's not really the main efficiency
gain.
00:15:36
The main gain is coming from the fact
00:15:38
that instead of your compression
and expansion strokes
00:15:42
being the same length, you know,
have a greater difference between them.
00:15:46
And this is why these tend to be paired up
with hybrid.
00:15:49
Right? Because they need a little.
There's an important drawback here.
00:15:52
So even though work and power
are not the same thing,
00:15:54
we're not going to get into that
because this isn't a physics podcast, but
00:15:57
thank God.
00:15:59
So even
00:16:00
though you're extracting more useful work,
you know, per unit of fuel,
00:16:06
you're getting a lot less torque
and a lot less power
00:16:08
because you have less air
and fuel in there.
00:16:11
You're starting with less pressure.
00:16:13
You're just you're making less power.
00:16:14
So it's more fuel efficient, which to
your point is great for a hybrid, right?
00:16:19
Yeah. But you're lacking in torque.
00:16:21
So what is a great way to make up for that
torque.
00:16:23
An electric motor
and battery attached to your vehicle.
00:16:26
So yeah, those two things working in
tandem are what make yeah constant cycle.
00:16:31
Such a great idea for hybrid systems.
00:16:34
Very cool.
00:16:34
Next time,
00:16:35
I hope someone writes in
and asks about the Miller cycle
00:16:38
on their Mazda Millennia S.
00:16:40
We'll send you two t shirts.
00:16:41
I'll pay for the second one. Serious?
00:16:43
Instead of an answer, we'll just give you
two t shirts. Yeah, you deserve it.
00:16:46
All right.
00:16:47
That's awesome. That's great.
That's a great.
00:16:49
That's a it's a great answer.
00:16:51
We're going to go from the technical
to the kind of an oddball.
00:16:54
So Dan from West Hills, California asks,
00:16:57
I'm seeing a lot of VinFast cars
here in Southern California.
00:17:01
How long do cars need to be around,
or what are the qualifications
00:17:04
for Consumer Reports
to review and rate cars?
00:17:08
And I think what Dan is implying
is that if you go to Coorg, 250 something
00:17:13
cars, new cars you can find, you know
what, overall score and everything else.
00:17:18
VinFast.
00:17:18
You'll just see our review of it, of one
that we borrowed.
00:17:22
But we have not yet purchased a VinFast
vehicle for our test program, right?
00:17:27
Right.
00:17:28
Yeah.
00:17:28
And, you know, you work on this, John.
00:17:32
What? It's selecting the cars.
00:17:34
How do we decide?
00:17:36
Yeah, that's a great question.
00:17:37
And there's really a lot
that goes into it.
00:17:39
And it's ultimately a case by case basis.
00:17:42
Right.
00:17:42
We're looking at every single car
00:17:43
and we're looking at a number of different
things.
00:17:45
With multiple people.
00:17:46
We're looking at kind of the sales data
and demand that we can see from the car,
00:17:50
our own budget constraints, especially
being a non profit, are really important
00:17:54
to be diligent with those funds
and how we spend that money on cars.
00:17:57
And then as you alluded to Keith, we
also borrow cars from the manufacturers.
00:18:02
We don't do any formal testing
or instrumentation of those borrowed cars,
00:18:06
but a lot of times
borrowing a car and driving it early on
00:18:09
can give us enough impressions to help
sometimes swing that decision and wonder.
00:18:13
Oh boy, did
00:18:14
we have some impressions of our VinFast
that we drove that you can read at Coorg.
00:18:19
And and I'll just say
I was excited about about the VinFast.
00:18:22
It was an interesting was a new entrant
and it was, it was, a company
00:18:26
from a country that's not necessarily
known for making cars,
00:18:29
but it's a large Vietnamese conglomerate
that did assembly and did,
00:18:34
you know,
they did local production for BMW.
00:18:37
So they're not new to
00:18:38
the automotive industry, but they're new
to kind of making their own vehicles.
00:18:42
It was kind of exciting.
00:18:43
And some of these lease deals
you would see, it would be like, you know,
00:18:46
199 a month,
no money down for a brand new SUV, right?
00:18:51
And I said, how bad could it be?
00:18:53
And then we got one into test
and it was, well.
00:18:58
Yeah, well, I mean, it, it
it matched up with, I think, what
00:19:01
everyone saw who went on the press junkets
and, you know, they yeah, they went
00:19:04
and they had the super comfortable trip
and we just had it here in Connecticut.
00:19:08
It just wasn't really software wise,
hardware wise, just wasn't up to snuff.
00:19:12
And again, you can
00:19:13
you can read all this in the first drive
and Consumer reports.org.
00:19:16
I mean, I think one of the keys is,
is that
00:19:19
they don't really sell
a ton of them even today.
00:19:23
Yeah.
00:19:23
So they've been out for about four years,
I believe, I think four years ago
00:19:27
I first saw them in California
at a dealership.
00:19:29
And yeah, according to Cox
00:19:30
Automotive, Kelley Blue Book,
they're they're EV sales report for 2025.
00:19:34
So we're not even going
to talk about this year.
00:19:36
It didn't even list VinFast as one of the
00:19:38
the vehicles, as one of the manufacturers
in there or a vehicle.
00:19:42
And it included stuff like the Jeep recon
and the Hyundai Nexo like.
00:19:46
Like fuel cell. Fuel cell and like random.
00:19:48
We're going to bring it out.
00:19:50
Maybe we'll sell 1 or 2 for two,
get it as the model like,
00:19:53
yeah, VinFast is probably part
of what's called additional EV models.
00:19:57
And that comprised 10 vehicles
00:20:01
for all additional models for 2025.
00:20:04
So the sales volume
is just so low to begin with.
00:20:07
It's not even something that for us
to focus on.
00:20:10
It's also kind
of a point of the market share.
00:20:12
And so I mean, it's. In pockets too.
00:20:14
So I know in the Bay area
I'll see some in LA,
00:20:17
I'll see some in, Raleigh,
Durham of all places.
00:20:20
There's a dealer there
that was cranking them out for a while.
00:20:23
And you'll see them.
00:20:25
Are you see them?
00:20:25
I've seen them in Montreal.
00:20:27
In the whole food
parking lot of Glastonbury, Connecticut.
00:20:29
I saw one the day this we.
00:20:32
Talked can go a long, long time without,
without without seeing them in
00:20:35
in large swaths of the country.
00:20:37
I mean, I think a tax advantages
lease deals, etc.
00:20:40
helped a lot. But but.
00:20:42
And look the startup nature of it,
I mean we've taken some risks and cars.
00:20:47
Fisker ocean well yeah. Let's go karma.
00:20:49
Yeah. Fisker karma. Yeah. Fisker ocean.
Yeah.
00:20:52
You know, sort of like fool me once.
00:20:53
Shame on you.
00:20:54
Fool me twice.
00:20:55
We're not going to be fooled again at all.
00:20:57
Yeah, like, you know.
00:20:58
And that's sort of our advice anyways.
00:21:01
Like we always say, like, don't buy a car
in its first year unless it's, you know,
00:21:05
a really, really reliable automaker
with a long proven track record.
00:21:08
But don't buy a car in its first year.
00:21:11
Don't
buy a manufacturer in its first year.
00:21:14
And we I mean, we've seen that with lucid.
00:21:15
We've seen that with I mean, I was just
driving the gravity compared to the air.
00:21:19
I mean, even just the little tiny
things that can change,
00:21:23
it's really hard to make a car. Sure.
00:21:26
So maybe we will test one.
00:21:27
Yeah.
00:21:28
I think just to interject
on talking about the gravity and lucid
00:21:31
because people might look at that
really well, what do you buy one of those.
00:21:34
And I was actually able to pull some sales
numbers on the auto news data center.
00:21:39
And so far from this is looking at January
through June of this
00:21:43
year, VinFast
in total sold 600 cars in the US.
00:21:47
Yeah, 600.
00:21:48
So by comparison, lucid 5400
and about 3000 of those were gravities.
00:21:53
So those are selling at least three times
as much as the VinFast brand.
00:21:57
Yeah.
00:21:57
And then Rivian
was almost 20 vehicles.
00:22:00
So once if their sales numbers go up,
if you start seeing them in more places
00:22:03
will probably buy and testament for now,
you don't need an overall score to know.
00:22:08
It's a wait and see as far as,
manufacturers concerned.
00:22:11
All right. Dan from Jackson, Tennessee,
00:22:14
is responding
00:22:16
to an earlier episode of Talking Cars.
00:22:19
Dan asks,
why do most cars offering rear wipers?
00:22:22
Why do they mount them on the bottom
00:22:24
with all the engineers,
the carmakers employee?
00:22:26
It's think the wipers should be mounted
above,
00:22:28
given that the wiper would then be hidden
and more protected from the elements
00:22:32
both in use and while not in use today,
with all the top extensions
00:22:36
added for aerodynamics
and to give distinguishing looks,
00:22:39
it seems that
00:22:39
there are plenty of opportunities
to hide the rear wipers while retaining
00:22:43
serviceability and protecting the wiper
from caked up ice and snow.
00:22:47
By the way, I too used to get a kick out
of my headlight wipers
00:22:49
on my former Volvo S80 T6.
00:22:53
So yeah, I know that the Hyundai Tucson
00:22:56
has a hidden rear wiper,
but that's pretty much it, right?
00:23:00
Yeah, there's I can't name a few others.
00:23:02
I can't think of any. Are there are a
couple like I think some range.
00:23:04
The Range Rovers have them hidden.
00:23:06
There's, there's one
where it drops on top.
00:23:08
I mean I think that
00:23:09
first of all it would going
that way would hurt the cottage industry
00:23:13
of having the picture of
00:23:14
like your dog with his paw
going back and forth up and down, waving.
00:23:18
Like, oh, yes, I remember the Queen waving
00:23:21
one. Yeah.
00:23:22
And that whole, that whole,
you know, cottage industry of plastic bags
00:23:25
that go over wipers
to protect them in the winter, like.
00:23:27
It's, it's big little plastic bag
that is keeping us big.
00:23:31
A little plastic bag.
00:23:32
Yes. But the real answer,
00:23:35
From joke episode.
00:23:36
Yes. Is a couple things.
00:23:38
First of all, parking it up top.
00:23:39
Even if it's swiping the water
and pushing it down,
00:23:42
it's still going to pull water up.
00:23:43
So you can have drips on the window
going throughout
00:23:46
because it's going to store
some water up there.
00:23:47
So you're going to continually have drips.
00:23:49
Now the bottom one at the bottom arc
still leaves drip little bit of water,
00:23:53
but it's far less
00:23:54
than if you're storing the wiper up top
and letting it kind of gather up there.
00:23:59
The key thing also is that
there's a lot more space for the motor
00:24:01
in the mechanism
in that hatch tailgate door,
00:24:05
in that center spot, then up top, it's
just there's just not as much room.
00:24:10
It's much more complex, you know,
00:24:12
whereas in here it's just it's a big space
and it is fairly deep.
00:24:15
You know, if you look at the,
00:24:16
the outside sheet metal
and then the inside of the plastic liner,
00:24:19
there's a lot of room in there
and it's just easier to access to.
00:24:22
So it's just easier for the automaker
to do it that way.
00:24:24
Less expensive.
00:24:26
They could use the same part
almost in every vehicle
00:24:28
instead of something custom up top,
because the top is going to be different
00:24:32
throughout the size of the vehicle,
you know, range, their model line, etc..
00:24:36
There's already power running through
there on a lot of cars for the what.
00:24:39
My big complaint is
the cars that don't have.
00:24:41
But we already talked about that.
00:24:43
The Ioniq five that only recently
got a rear wiper.
00:24:46
Right? Yeah.
00:24:46
Not have one, which for a hatchback
like that to me was kind of crazy.
00:24:50
I wish sedans had them. So that's true.
00:24:52
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:54
It's that's the thing and I and it really
I guess going to the Ioniq five
00:24:57
and now we're just going to go off
tangent.
00:24:59
But like the,
00:25:00
the whole argument of like aerodynamics
will take care of cleaning the window.
00:25:04
But aerodynamics didn't.
00:25:05
So we put a wiper on instead.
00:25:08
Sometimes,
people learn from their mistakes
00:25:10
and can can move forward accordingly.
00:25:13
So good on
anyone who's putting from my book
00:25:16
putting a rear wiper on there,
especially on there.
00:25:18
Yeah, it sounds like everyone on
this panel is team rear wiper.
00:25:21
So team wiper, you can just now
we have to do this.
00:25:24
We have to do. Yes.
00:25:27
Sorry Mike Crosson. Oh.
00:25:28
Well, and I got to say, I also love
the little the little wipers on the front
00:25:33
headlights of European cars
from the 90s through the.
00:25:36
Yeah, they were delightful.
00:25:38
Well, before we head out,
I just have one thing left to say.
00:25:41
You might have noticed, if you listen
to other podcasts, that ours didn't start
00:25:46
with an ad for mattresses or some kind of,
like, build your own website tool.
00:25:51
And that is because we're a nonprofit.
00:25:53
We don't take advertising.
00:25:55
If you look at our magazine,
there aren't, you know,
00:25:59
all the
00:25:59
pictures of cars
and theirs are ones that we took here.
00:26:03
And they're they're not,
00:26:04
you know, they're not ads,
which means how do we make our money?
00:26:06
Well, it's folks like you,
making donations are a big part of that.
00:26:12
You help us do what we do,
you help us, you know, have our experts,
00:26:17
who can talk about these things,
help us test vehicles.
00:26:21
So, you know, as as we said earlier
about that, about that VinFast,
00:26:25
you know, we can't do everything,
but we do a heck of a lot,
00:26:28
and nobody else is out there doing it
like we are.
00:26:30
Nobody else is out there.
00:26:31
From this nonprofit
perspective, writing, talking,
00:26:35
testing,
evaluating the same way, that we do.
00:26:39
And it's a pretty special place to work.
00:26:41
And I'd like us to be around
for another 90 years.
00:26:45
So, you know,
you click that little donation
00:26:47
link, send a little love
our way, send a little money our way.
00:26:50
And it'll be some good karma,
not Fisker Karma, for you.
00:26:54
So thanks so much.
00:26:55
Send your questions to talking Cars
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00:27:01
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